New offers for shredded scrap in Pakistan have posted a slight increase this week, after weeks of declines. However, most Pakistani buyers have remained inactive due to still weak demand in the construction sector amid heavy rains coupled with serious problems with opening letters of credit.
Specifically, import offers of ex-UK/EU shredded scrap in containers to Pakistan have increased by $5-10/mt week on week to $460-465/mt CFR, though, according to market insiders, most bids have still been voiced at much lower levels. “India has become quite active, which pushed up import offers and many traders switched their focus to sales to India, while doing business in Pakistan has remained quite risky at the moment due to liquidity problems,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
At the same time, some market insiders have become more optimistic considering the recent news about the national currency appreciation. In particular, on August 3, the Pakistani rupee has increased by 4.19 percent from the previous day to PKR 228.80 against the US dollar, according to the State Bank of Pakistan. “It is big news today for us. We hope a stronger rupee can motivate buying,” a Pakistani trader said.